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Aspect.js

JavaScript library for aspect-oriented programming using modern syntax.

From mgechev·Updated June 21, 2026·View on GitHub·

Library for aspect-oriented programming with JavaScript, which takes advantage of ECMAScript 2016 decorators syntax. The project is written primarily in TypeScript, distributed under the MIT License license, first published in 2015. Key topics include: aspect-oriented-programming, decorators, javascript.

Introduction

Build Status

Library for aspect-oriented programming with JavaScript, which takes advantage of ECMAScript 2016 decorators syntax.

NOTE: if you are using aspect.js in a plain JavaScript project that uses @babel/plugin-proposal-decorators, you must set its legacy property to true until #72 is fixed.
See this migration note for more information.
A sample project using JavaScript with Node >=10.12.0 (or >=8.12.0) & Babel 7.x can be found at https://github.com/matthewadams/aspect.js-babel7-poc.
It's a good way to get going quickly with aspect.js in that environment.

For further reading on decorators, take a look at the spec.

Blog post, introduction to the AOP and the library could be found here.

Talk from AngularConnect.

Cutting Angular's Crosscuts

Sample usage

ts
import {beforeMethod, Advised, Metadata} from 'aspect.js'; class LoggerAspect { @beforeMethod({ classNamePattern: /^Article/, methodNamePattern: /^(get|set)/ }) invokeBeforeMethod(meta: Metadata) { // meta.advisedMetadata == { bar: 42 } console.log(`Inside of the logger. Called ${meta.className}.${meta.method.name} with args: ${meta.method.args.join(', ')}.`); } } class Article { id: number; title: string; content: string; } @Advised({ bar: 42 }) class ArticleCollection { articles: Article[] = []; getArticle(id: number) { console.log(`Getting article with id: ${id}.`); return this.articles.filter(a => { return a.id === id; }).pop(); } setArticle(article: Article) { console.log(`Setting article with id: ${article.id}.`); this.articles.push(article); } } new ArticleCollection().getArticle(1); // Result: // Inside of the logger. Called ArticleCollection.getArticle with args: 1. // Getting article with id: 1.

In case you're using aspect.js in a browser environment the minifier may break the annotated code because of the performed mangling. In order to handle this problem you can use:

ts
class LoggerAspect { @beforeMethod({ classes: [ArticleCollection], methods: [ArticleCollection.prototype.getArticle, ArticleCollection.prototype.setArticle] }) invokeBeforeMethod(meta: Metadata) { // meta.advisedMetadata == { bar: 42 } console.log(`Inside of the logger. Called ${meta.className}.${meta.method.name} with args: ${meta.method.args.join(', ')}.`); } } class ArticleCollection { getArticle(id: number) {...} setArticle(article: Article) {...} }

In this case you can omit the @Advised decorator.

This way, by explicitly listing the classes and methods which should be woven, you can prevent the unwanted effect of mangling.

Demo

git clone https://github.com/mgechev/aop.js --depth 1
npm install -g ts-node
ts-node demo/index.ts

API

The library offers the following combinations of advices and join points:

Method calls

  • beforeMethod(MethodSelector) - invoked before method call
  • afterMethod(MethodSelector) - invoked after method call
  • aroundMethod(MethodSelector) - invoked around method call
  • onThrowOfMethod(MethodSelector) - invoked on throw of method call
  • asyncOnThrowOfMethod(MethodSelector) - invoked on throw of async method call

Static method calls

  • beforeStaticMethod(MethodSelector) - invoked before static method call
  • afterStaticMethod(MethodSelector) - invoked after static method call
  • aroundStaticMethod(MethodSelector) - invoked around static method call
  • onThrowOfStaticMethod(MethodSelector) - invoked on throw of static method call
  • asyncOnThrowOfStaticMethod(MethodSelector) - invoked on throw of async static method call

Accessors

  • beforeSetter(PropertySelector) - invoked before setter call
  • afterSetter(PropertySelector) - invoked after setter call
  • aroundSetter(PropertySelector) - invoked around setter call
  • onThrowOfSetter(PropertySelector) - invoked on throw of setter call
  • asyncOnThrowOfSetter(PropertySelector) - invoked on throw of async setter call
  • beforeGetter(PropertySelector) - invoked before getter call
  • afterGetter(PropertySelector) - invoked after getter call
  • aroundGetter(PropertySelector) - invoked around getter call
  • onThrowOfGetter(PropertySelector) - invoked on throw of getter call
  • asyncOnThrowOfGetter(PropertySelector) - invoked on throw of async getter call

MethodSelector

ts
export interface MethodSelector { classNamePattern?: RegExp; methodNamePattern?: RegExp; classes?: Function[]; methods?: Function[]; }

PropertySelector

ts
export interface PropertySelector { classNamePattern?: RegExp; propertyNamePattern?: RegExp; classes?: Function[]; properties?: PropertyDescriptor[]; }

Metadata

ts
export class Metadata { public method: MethodMetadata; public className: string; public advisedMetadata: any; }

MethodMetadata

ts
export class MethodMetadata { public proceed: boolean; public name: string; public args: any[]; public context: any; public result: any; public exception: any; public invoke: (...args: any[]) => any; }

Diagram

Here's a UML class diagram which shows the relations between the individual abstractions:

UML Diagram

Roadmap

  • Tests
  • Type annotations and DTS generation
  • Aspect factories
    • Generic aspects
  • Implement the following advices:
    • Before
    • After
      • Throwing
      • Returning
    • Around
  • Implement the following join points:
    • Method execution
    • Static method execution
    • Filed get
    • Field set

License

MIT

Contributors

Showing top 8 contributors by commit count.

View all contributors on GitHub →

This article is auto-generated from mgechev/aspect.js via the GitHub API.Last fetched: 6/23/2026